Autumn is Here and Back to the Stove We Go

Isn’t it always interesting at how the weather affects us in how much cooking we actually do? When autumn comes around, wihch happens to be my very most favorite season of the year, I start cooking up a storm. I know I am not alone in this habit, nor would I want to be.

It is with the cooler weather, the warmth of the stove brings us back into the kitchen, the thought of thick stews simmering in a slow oven, trying out that recipe you saw in a recent magazine to making hot tea at night to calm one down from the hetic pace of the day since it seems shorter in daylight hours.

You are not dreaming, the daylight hours are shorter come starting in October, and it is especially noticeable in New York. The smell in the air, the crisper fresh air allows me to open my windows when I can to get the last of the fresh air to breeze through my home.

I notice, like so many of you, the changes in my diet and in what dishes I prepare seeking out more soups, hearty meals to warm my soul and this brings me to one of my more favorite drinks to enjoy with friends and family when entertaining this fall: mulled wine.

Now some of you might ask, what the heck is mulled wine? Well, it’s simply warmed up red wine mixed with several spices and in my recipe, with apple cider. Here’s the skinny in making this quick easy warm drink to have a glass while you sit by your first of the year fire in the living room.

Ingredients:

• red wine – preferred a merlot or cabernet 2 cups
• 2-3 cups apple cider (not juice)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• cinnamon sticks – one per mug for serving
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 star anise
• 3 slices of fresh navel oranges – cut in half
• Equipment: Soup or stock pot

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients into stock pot, and let come to a simmer, then continue to simmer for 5-7 minutes stirring occassionaly.
2. Serve up with warmed mugs or hearty glasses that have handles.
3. Add fresh cinnamon stick into mug/glass/add fresh slice of orange if you wish.
4. Sit by a warm fire, or snuggle on a couch watching your favorite CSI t.v. show. Enjoy!

The smell of this concotion simmering in a pot on top of your stove is sure to make all your visitors feel more than welcome into your home.

Easy and Quick Roast Jerk Chicken for Two

This is one of those super easy phenomenal tasting spicy roasted chicken dinners that takes no time to prepare. simply set it up, throw it in the oven, and voila, it’s done an hour later or less -no fuss cooking with the feel of a fine French Restaurant-looking lovely fresh roasted chicken with a jerk twist.

Ingredients:

• 1 split down the middle small chicken.
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• red chili flakes (optional – but oh so good!)
• kosher or rock salt & fresh cracked pepper
• 2 teaspoons dry jerk seasonings
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• hot preheated oven 350 degrees
• cast iron or clad skillet – or shallow pan, anything that can go into the oven.

Directions:

1. Start your oven, and set chicken skin side up in skillet or shallow pan.
2. Pour and rub olive oil over skin. Add salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, dry jerk seasonings and fresh rosemary.
3. I also place one sprig of rosemary under wing as it laid across the chicken half.
4. That’s it! Throw it into the oven, cook till internal temperature in breast/thigh reaches 165 degrees – depending upon size of bird, mine took 55 minutes.
5. Let rest out of pan on a plate before splitting in half to serve on two plates.
6. My dish shown has roasted bell peppers and potatoes that I inadvertently left in a little too long – but still had a nice bite to them.

Though the photo is not very good, my pal and I were too eager to stop long enough to set up the photo, but I assure you that it was mighty tasty!

Best Chicken Soup Recipe for Colds and Flu

So you are under the weather huh? Has your family spread their sickly germs around and you are just waiting for your turn? Maybe you don’t live near your mother close enough to take advantage of her cooking and caring for you. Are you coughing? Can’t breath through your nose and you’re wheezing? Feel like a cold’s coming on or you know you got one bad?

Well continue to read and get this great recipe I have concocted which creates a few twists to your normal homemade chicken soup recipe made specifically to help clear your nasal passages, open your airways and to help you start to feel better as soon as you have your first spoonful.

Containing fresh garlic, onions, rosemary, jalapenos, red cayenne pepper, cumin, scallions – it is with these fresh ingredients that help shorten your cold and open your airways allowing you to breath, aids in making your coughs productive and take rest to start healing.

How this recipe came to being:

Recently, my partner’s son was in from overseas, and while my guy was preparing for his son’s visit, he went out and bought what seemed like the farm when in came to the amount of chicken he brought home. I never had so much frozen chicken in my house. And though we hadn’t had our first colds of the year, we started taking turns every week in making our versions of homemade chicken soup. We came up with many versions – all delicious, each having their own characteristics and variations of added seasonings.

What we learned is that homemade chicken soup regardless of how you make it, or what ingredients you put into it, hot chicken soup is always good for the body and soul especially when you are feeling under the weather.

Now we obviously know there are a lot of moms and grandmothers out there who swear (OK they don’t actually swear, well at least some of them don’t swear out in public – OK some of them do and you probably have seen those few moms on the Jerry Springer show, but I digress). But these mothers and mothers of mothers certainly promise that their chicken soup recipe is simply the best to help cure colds – one thing is for sure, mothers (including yours were right). Sipping hot fluids really do help thin out mucous sputum and help open up the nasal passages – and as there are a countless number of ‘mothers’ out there, there are certainly a countless number of different versions of chicken soup to help you during your colds…

There really are scientific results stating how hot chicken soup can shorten a cold’s duration while relieving symptoms – so what are you and I waiting for? Here’s my latest version. And if you are curious to read wikipedia.com’s comments on the history and healing properties of chicken soup – simply click…

My version with the added red chili pepper flakes and sliced jalapenos really help open up your airways and allow your nose to actually breath again while the fresh rosemary helps your lungs function. So shall we get started cooking?

The cooking process is rather simple, you will be adding the ingredients along with the chicken and water and allowing it all to boil then simmer for at least 90 minutes until the chicken is done. Then removing the chicken allowing it to cool so that you can remove the meat from the bones. Then cooking your noodles separately if you want to add them to your soup, then adding the last of the reserved veggies to your soup and returning the now-deboned chicken along with the noodles to the soup and serving it up to you and your family.

Ingredients:

• One large Soup Pot
• chicken pieces – I used three leg quarters (legs and thighs)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 stalks celery – diced (reserve one stalk)
• 2 jalapenos – diced (or more)
• 2 medium sized onions – diced
• 3 large carrots – diced (reserve one carrot)
• 2+ teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
• 1 teaspoon+ red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4 tablespoons of FRESH rosemary, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 4-6 whole ‘cloves’ of allspice
• 2 large bay leaves – fresh or dried
• 6-8 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons of ‘better than bouillon’ chicken flavored paste (optional)
• 4 stalks of scallions – diced and added at the end.
• 2 cups dried noodles (optional & cooked separately near the end)
• chopped fresh parsley or cilantro added at end or to the bowls when serving.

Directions:

• Gather your ingredients and place your large stock pot on your stove or even use your slow cooker.
• Add olive oil to your stock pot (if you are using your slow cooker omit this step and simply add your ingredients to the slow cooker starting with the vegetables first, then add the chicken, then the water and turn it on)
• Remember to reserve one celery stalk, one carrot and all the scallions – you will be adding those last to the soup pot once your chicken has cooked and you have removed the meat from the bones and replaced it back into the soup – this keeps them slightly crunchy and adds color)
• Add diced onions, celery and carrots to the mix and turn the heat under pot.
• Allow the vegetables to sweat for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• While vegetables are cooking, remove skin off chicken and separate legs from thighs.
• Add chicken to pot, add all remaining ingredients: garlic, spices, salt and pepper, jalapenos, etc. (except for one carrot, one celery stalk, scallions)
• Add water to pot enough to bring the water level to about one inch from the top.
• Allow to come to a boil, then lower heat and allow the soup to simmer for at least 90 minutes.
• Scoop out chicken. Let cool slightly so it is easier to remove meat from bones.
• While noodles are cooking (see next step) and chicken is cooling, add the reserved diced carrot, celery and scallions to the soup.
• When removing meat from the chicken bones, I like to keep the chicken in chunks.
• Cook noodles separately and when done drain and rinse noodles before adding to soup.
• Serve up in bowls to feed your cold and starve your fever!

Variations & Tips:

• You can easily allow this to cook for much longer of course, just remember, the longer you cook the chicken in, it might be a bit ‘drier’ despite it being cooked in the soup.
• Adding additional jalapenos or red pepper flakes at the end will bring up the ‘heat factor’ opening up the most stubborn of stuffed noses.
• Adding a squeeze of lemon juice to the bowl will also up the vitamin C content.
• You can ‘cheat’ with the chicken and buy a pre-cooked roasted chicken, remove meat from bones and ’start’ the soup with the bones only and adding the meat after 90 minutes. – This is especially helpful for those too weak and need a quick fix of chicken soup. Just be sure not to add any of the skin to the soup.
• By adding the jalapenos, red chili flakes and cayenne pepper in the beginning, the soup takes on a gentle heat mellowing out the spiciness of the jalapenos. I personally like to add more red chili flakes and sliced jalapenos into my bowl just before serving to make it extra spicy – it gets my nose passages to open up so fast, I simply love being able to breath again.

So share with us how you healed you and your family using my version of chicken soup.  Hope you are feeling better real soon!